


i'll love you all the while

by asexualrey



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Domesticity, Fluff, M/M, Sickfic, more to be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:44:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6750706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexualrey/pseuds/asexualrey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various TanuNatsu drabbles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll love you all the while

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: established relationship and Extreme Domesticity
> 
> I hope this fulfilled the prompt. There is a sad lack of fluffy TanuNatsu sickfic out there in the world, so I wanted to help fix that.

Natsume pushes the front door open with more force than strictly necessary and tosses the shopping bag onto the counter without even looking in his rush. When he reaches the bedroom door, he has to remind himself to calm down and enter quietly, but it’s hard when he’s so anxious. It takes more self control than he wants to admit to open the door slowly and poke his head in.

“Kaname?”

In the sliver of light that cuts across the dark room, he sees Tanuma shift under the heavy quilt and a mop of dark, messy hair emerges from under it. Two midnight eyes blink at him sleepily. “Hey.” 

His voice is groggy and rough with sickness, but Natsume breathes a sigh of relief. “Hey,” he returns, and crosses the room to sit on the edge of the bed. There aren’t any spirits in the apartment, so Sensei must’ve been doing his job before apparently getting bored and heading out. He combs his fingers through Tanuma’s hair and frowns at the heat he feels radiating from his skin. “How are you feeling?”

Tanuma only groans in response and closes his eyes again. 

“I got your medicine and that soup you like.”

“Thanks.” His voice is barely a whisper. He lurches and barely has time to cover his mouth before a fit of coughing shakes his frame.

Natsume’s chest aches at seeing him so miserable, even if this particular bout of illness has nothing to do with spirits. He’d woken up in the middle of the night to violent coughing and found Tanuma shivering and sweating beside him in bed, unable to sleep due to a high fever. After the initial panic, they’d both agreed on dubbing him sick with a bad flu, which Natsume was secretly glad for. Too many times he’s watched his boyfriend be laid low due to something otherworldly and dangerous. The flu, he can handle. 

“Do you want to take it now, or would you rather wait?” he asks, pushing back sweat-soaked bangs. 

Tanuma rubs his eyes. “Now, I guess. Don’t think I can go back to sleep.”

“Why don’t you come lie on the couch while I make the soup? I want to keep an eye on you.”

“Mmmm.” 

Natsume smooths a hand up his arm. “Come on. I’ll watch a ‘How It’s Made’ documentary with you.”

At this, Tanuma cracks open one eye. “Well…okay.”

Natsume helps him out of bed and keeps a solid hand on his back as they slowly shuffle into the living room. Tanuma keeps his favorite fleece blanket wrapped around himself and Natsume brings his pillow. Once he’s settled comfortably on the sofa, Natsume heats up the soup on the stove.

He’s grateful now for the phenomenal (if a little overbearing) care Touko bestowed upon him during high school. It’s thanks to her that he knows exactly what to do to help Tanuma feel better. 

He sets the bowl of soup and a spoon on a tray along with some fever reducers and a tiny cup full of cough medicine. He’s about to pour a glass of water too, but thinks better of it and makes honeyed tea instead to chase down the medicine and hopefully sooth Tanuma’s throat. 

When he carries the tray in, Tanuma is engrossed in a program about the making of patio heaters, his dark and bloodshot eyes fixed intently on the TV. Natsume sets the tray down on the coffee table and gestures for Tanuma to sit up, which he does very sluggishly. Before giving him the soup, Natsume presses a palm against his forehead. The warmth there makes him uneasy, so he pops the thermometer into Tanuma’s mouth and watches the documentary without much interest until it beeps. 

“What is it?” Tanuma asks, letting his head fall on Natsume’s shoulder and coughing a bit. 

Natsume frowns and slips the instrument back into its case. “39.2.º It went up again.”

“Oh.”

“Here, take these.” He hands him the pills and the mug of tea, followed by the cough syrup.

Tanuma grimaces at the taste and downs several large swallows of tea. “Why’d you have to get the nasty kind?” 

Natsume laughs. “I don’t think there’s a kind that isn’t nasty.”

“There are…chewable tablets and things.”

“They only had those in grape flavor and you don’t like grape. Besides, this is what Touko-san always bought for me and it works.”

“’F you say so.”

Natsume swaps the mug in his hands for the bowl of soup. “Don’t complain. It’ll make you feel better.”

Tanuma hums in reply and eats his soup in silence, his attention once again drawn back to the TV. He’s always been fascinated by how-it’s-made shows, and while Natsume doesn’t personally understand what’s so interesting about them, he’s happy to sit with his boyfriend and pretend to watch while actually worrying about the fever and keeping a sharp eye out for any intruding spirits. 

Since leaving Yatsuhara, there haven’t been quite so many spirits seeking Natsume out personally, so his and Tanuma’s apartment usually doesn’t receive unwanted company, but old habits die hard. Natsume doesn’t think he’ll ever stop being nervous about leaving Tanuma here alone, even if Sensei does stay behind too. 

It doesn’t take long before a dark head of hair drops back onto his shoulder. “I hope you don’t catch this.”

Natsume smiles gently and kisses Tanuma’s clammy forehead. “Well, if I do I hope you’ll take such excellent care of me.”

Tanuma grins and takes his hand. “’Course.”

Later on, it seems even the thrilling production of patio heaters can’t keep Tanuma awake. His head sags forward and Natsume thinks that can’t be very comfortable, so he lays him back on the couch and tucks the fleece around him tightly. 

The fever’s still burning in his brow, so he makes a cold compress out of a washcloth. When he leans over to lay it on Tanuma’s head, long fingers wrap around his wrist and tug him down. “Lie down with me.”

Natsume presses the cloth to his forehead and shakes his head. “I have to do laundry and figure out dinner.”

“It can wait. Please, I’m ill.”

He sighs, because he can’t really argue with that, can he? So he acquiesces and snuggles up against Tanuma’s chest and it’s amazing how fast he’s able to fall asleep. 

When he wakes, it’s dark out and he chides Tanuma for causing him to miss an afternoon to be productive, but he can’t really be upset in the least. Tanuma looks more alert and a little less miserable after their nap and his sleepy, lazy smile makes Natsume’s stomach flip so he doesn’t count it as wasted time at all. 

Nyanko doesn’t miss the opportunity to tell them how stupid and embarrassing they both are.

**Author's Note:**

> This work will probably function solely on prompts that people send me, so if you have a request don't hesitate to send it :) I'll write just about anything besides smut. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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